Beyond nationalism: An approach to ‘explosive’ territorial disputes
Joint Project between the Northeast Asian History Foundation and The AsiaN *Editor’s Note: Security in East Asia is swaying in a rough sea. North Korea’s nuclear crisis has been highly elated amid existing territorial disputes and deep-rooted conflicts between nations in the region. South Korea, China and Japan, the countries directly involved, are all looking […]
Park’s candid remarks feared to irritate NK leadership
Soon after North Korea’s third nuclear test, Ms. Park Geun-hye, president-elect of South Korea, met current President Lee Myung-bak. As one should expect, South Korea’s future leader found harsh words for the North Korean government and its nuclear brinkmanship. Among other things, the president-elect remarked that, ‘One should know that the Soviet Union collapsed not […]
Park Geun-hye gov’t asked to prepare for welfare policy of unified Korea
The election of Park Geun-hye as the new President of the ROK has attracted much attention internationally. Some observers have emphasised the fact that she is the first woman to become the leader of South Korea, while others prefer to dwell on her being the daughter of former South Korean strongman, Park Chung-hee. It seems […]
Pervasion of mobile phone in NK will eventually change it to a new country
In recent weeks, North Korea has frequently been in the headlines. Of course, the successful launch of a satellite attracted much attention. The large-scale purges of the military, the pregnancy of Kim Jong-un’s wife, Kim Jong-un’s New Year address and other news were widely discussed in the international media. However, foreign journalists have overlooked what […]
Sad truth about N. Korean missiles
The political dust, which was created by North Korea’s successful rocket launch is beginning to settle. Predictably, there has been the usual amount of tough talk from Seoul, Washington and Tokyo as well as the somewhat half-hearted and muted condemnation from Moscow and Beijing. The North Korean government is celebrating and showering its engineers and […]
Memory of Kim Jong-il on the occasion of the first anniversary of his demise
One year has passed since the untimely demise of Marshall (posthumously promoted to Generalissimo) Kim Jong-il. Thus it is probably an appropriate time to say a few words about the deceased dictator, and perhaps to focus less on his shortcomings and focus more on the nicer parts of his personality and politics (and as we […]
U.S. may consider buying off improved NK missile capabilities
So it has been almost one year since the world learnt about the sudden and untimely demise of Marshall Kim Jong Il, the Lodestar of the Twenty-first Century. What has happened in North Korea over the last year, what was predicted and what was not? Perhaps, it is a good time to make some sense […]
Future of NK leadership at time when society changes rapidly
The beautiful and charming Ri Sol-ju, the wife of the North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un, has not been seen for quite a while. After few months of frantic activity, she has nearly (but not quite completely) disappeared from the public view. The sudden drop in frequency of her public appearances has been met by tidal […]
Different world of jobs in NK
Westerners or, for that matter, South Koreans are always impressed when they are told that somebody in North Korea is a medical doctor. It is seen as an embodiment of career success ― like it would be, no doubt, in Seoul, New York or London. However, North Korea is different: the North Korean doctors do […]
Success of rightists’ move to use NK-related policies in coming presidential election has yet to be seen
In mid-December, South Korean voters will go to the polls to decide who will be the next president of the Republic of Korea (ROK). South Korean elections tend to be rather uncertain and tense affairs. Compared to many countries, though, South Korean politicians are not enthusiastic participants in mud-slinging matches. Nonetheless, a great deal of […]
Russia, Professor at Kookmin University, former professor at Australian National University, PhD in Korean History, Leningrad State University 
Trump, Kim, and the Three P’s of Summit Diplomacy: 
